Relatives grieve as Spanair crash probe begins
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Relatives gathered at an improvised morgue to identify the bodies. (Reuters: Susana Vera)
Grieving relatives and medical staff are trying to identify the badly burned bodies of victims of the Spanair crash in which 153 people were killed as a jet took off on a holiday flight from Madrid airport.
The investigation into the crash, Spain's worst aviation disaster since 1983, is also underway, with officials seeking to find out why the Spanair MD-82 jet aborted an initial take-off attempt shortly before the accident.
"The causes will have to be provided not only by the company but also by the black boxes, which compile all the flight data," Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said.
Relatives gathered at an improvised morgue in a convention centre to identify the bodies, many of which were badly burned.
"I'd kill the bastard who did this," a driver shouted at Spanish state television cameras outside the convention centre.
Another passenger said: "Knowing the plane was bad, it took off with my seven-year-old niece."
Ms Alvarez said only 19 people of the 166 passengers and nine crew aboard survived.
Spanair listed 157 passengers and 10 unnamed crew, implying a total of 167 aboard.
A Spanair spokesman said he could not account for the discrepancy between airline and government figures.
A passenger list published by Spanair, which is owned by Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS), showed mostly Spanish names but officials said there were also passengers from Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Chile.
Many were children, rescue officials said.
Forensic scientists from around the country were heading to Madrid to help identify the bodies.
"We hope the very difficult and delicate task of identification can be done with the utmost efficiency," Ms Alvarez said.
The plane was 15 years old and passed its annual inspection last year, she said.
- Reuters
